C-Level View :: June 27, 2007

Executive View

Student Ambassadors for Open Source
A conversation with Dinesh Bahal about the Campus Ambassador Program at Sun Microsystems.

By Mary Grush

CT: Why did Sun Microsystems establish a Campus Ambassador Program that centers around open source?

Bahal: In order for computer science or IT people to be successful, a lot today is based around open source. At Sun we've taken billions of dollars of intellectual property and open sourced it. If you look at three big things, Java, Solaris (which is the operating system that competes with Linux), and Spark (which is the chip)--we've open sourced all of that. So our message is, for [these students] to be successful at work, they've got to understand how to utilize the open source technologies, how to work in the communities associated with that, and how to give back to the communities....

Worth Noting

U Buffalo Seeks Student Input on Info Tech Investments
The University of Buffalo is seeking direct input from a sometimes undertapped cohort in deciding where to put its future information technology investments: students, faculty, and staff. As part of its strategic planning process for 2020, UB has launched a survey of the university community as it evaluates "the information technology systems that support student academics and student life at UB, and explores ways to improve and integrate them..."
Georgia DTAE to Standardize Student Evaluations, Planning Surveys
The Georgia Department of Technical and Adult Education (GDTAE), which oversees the Technical College System of Georgia, said it plans to standardize on Scantron's Class Climate and eListen systems in order to standardize the surveys it conducts with students....

From The Personnel Office

Utah Names New CIO, Streamlines IT Across Campus
The University of Utah named Stephen Hess its top information technology executive. Hess, who was the school's associate academic vice president for information technology, will become chief information officer and preside over a new, unified IT department....
Academic Research Group Bolsters Leadership Team
The Computing Research Association (CRA) has picked 16 higher education computing researchers to serve as members of its first permanent Council for the Computing Community Consortium....

Featured

  • Abstract digital cloudscape of glowing interconnected clouds and radiant lines

    Cloud Complexity Outpacing Human Defenses, Report Warns

    According to the 2026 Cloud Security Report from Fortinet, while cloud security budgets are rising, 66% of organizations lack confidence in real-time threat detection across increasingly complex multi-cloud environments, with identity risks, tool sprawl, and fragmented visibility creating persistent operational gaps despite significant investment increases.

  • large group of college students sitting on an academic quad

    Student Readiness: Learning to Learn

    Melissa Loble, Instructure's chief academic officer, recommends a focus on 'readiness' as a broader concept as we try to understand how to build meaningful education experiences that can form a bridge from the university to the workplace. Here, we ask Loble what readiness is and how to offer students the ability to 'learn to learn'.

  • Interconnected Light Particles in Vibrant Streams

    Rubrik Agent Cloud Expands Policy Controls for Agent Prompts/Responses

    Rubrik has made Rubrik Agent Cloud generally available, adding expanded governance controls that enforce predefined and custom policies on both AI agent prompts and responses.

  • abstract AI technology with glowing digital interfaces

    Snowflake, OpenAI Partner to Embed AI Models in Enterprise Data Workflows

    Snowflake and OpenAI have announced a multi-year, $200 million partnership that will make OpenAI models available on Snowflake's platform.